President Donald J. Trump joins Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, at their bilateral meeting Saturday, June 29, 2019, at the G20 Japan Summit in Osaka, Japan. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
In an interview with Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt suggested that “Right now, President Trump has a boot on the throat for Chinese bad behavior.”
While Trump is holding the boot to China’s neck, there are signs that the country’s economy is weakening. Profits at banks are reportedly plunging. Bloomberg reports:
Shares of Chinese banks slumped following weak earnings, with analysts concerned the global trade war will further undermine their profit.
Lenders were the worst performers in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index after some of them reported a drop in profit and lower margins. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. fell as much as 6% in Hong Kong, after China’s biggest bank saw its net income fall 4% in the first quarter. Shares in China Merchants Bank Co. and Postal Savings Bank of China Co. slid at least 5%.
The NY Post has reported that protests have begun in China as factory workers have not been paid. Anthony Blair writes for the Post:
Protests from furious factory workers in China demanding back pay are spreading across the country after President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports began impacting the communist nation’s economy.
Unrest has been reported across the country as workers have taken to the streets protesting unpaid wages and challenging unfair dismissals following the closures of factories squeezed by US tariffs, according to Radio Free Asia.
The trade war has forced factories to close or suspend production. Ryan McMorrow and Chan Ho-him report for the Financial Times:
Workers said the trade war had prompted the suspension of production for a week or more at plants making products ranging from shoe soles to jeans, electrical outlets and portable stoves. Some factory owners said they were cutting overtime or weekend work.
Wang Xin, head of the Shenzhen Cross-Border E-Commerce Association, an industry group representing more than 2,000 Chinese merchants, said many of them were “extremely anxious” and had told factories and suppliers to halt or delay deliveries. This had prompted some factories to suspend production for one to two weeks, she said.
The Trump administration has said that the ball is in China’s court when it comes to negotiations over tariffs. When asked if he would be willing to end tariffs to get China to negotiate, President Trump flatly said, “No.”
“Are you open to pulling back your tariffs in order to get China to the negotiating table?”@POTUS: “No.” pic.twitter.com/CCDVoFKdii
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 7, 2025
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